Backyard Tour

The weather on Sunday was absolutely gorgeous for our Mother's Day celebration.  It was our first outdoor party of the season, which is always exciting, knowing that the warm weather is arriving.

Since it was such a beautiful day, it was a perfect opportunity for me to take some updated photos of the backyard.  Here is the grand tour...

The sectional sofa and coffee table are from Restoration Hardware.  I mixed these with two chairs I picked up at Target last year on clearance.

 The sectional sofa is in the shade for the majority of the day which makes it a favorite place to hang out during the summer when you are looking to escape the sun.

 You can see the pizza oven in the background which was working overtime this weekend.

Here's a closer view along with the flowers we planted.  They haven't filled in just yet since the weather is still a bit cold here.

 The patio is multi-layered and this landing by the two sliding doors has another small seating area.  We really only use the one set of sliding doors which lead to the kitchen.

 Here's another view...

 And here's a view from the backyard.

 We also put in a firepit when we built the patio.

   See that big tree in the background?  A few years back the tree was all but dead.  We invested in this tree and gave it deep root feedings and had it trimmed.  It has filled out and it is completely heathy now.

 Here's a good view of the outdoor kitchen.

 Two steps lead you directly into the pool area.

 Remember these chairs?  These were my roadside rescues.  They are still looking good.

 Hopefully by Memorial day the weather will warm up enough for everyone to use the pool.  

Don't forget to click here to enter the Firmoo sunglasses giveaway.

Don't forget to stop back tonight for my Swing into Spring party.

The party opens at 8pm EST.  Hope to see you then.

-Judy

Sharing with Savvy Southern Style

How to Clean Your Patio Umbrella

With the warmer weather coming, it is time to take out some of the outdoor furniture.  We have owned our outdoor patio umbrella for almost ten years.  It wasn't looking so good anymore.  It was covered with green mold and mildew from years of being outside.

First thing I did was remove the fabric from the umbrella.  Yep...you can remove the fabric.  The posts of the umbrella slip into pockets of fabric underneath the umbrella.  I simply unscrewed the top of the umbrella and then slipped off the fabric.

Then I filled an old garbage can with a solution of one cup of bleach to each gallon of water.

Then we submerged the umbrella fabric in the solution.  After it soaked for fifteen minutes, my husband took a scrub brush and scrubbed off the dirtiest parts.

Then, while it was wet, we put the umbrella back together.  It's important that you put it back together while it's wet...otherwise it will shrink when it dries and it will no longer fit on the spokes of the umbrella.  Once it was back together, we hosed off the umbrella to get any traces of bleach off.

While we had the bleach and water solution available, we also scrubbed all of the outdoor furniture to remove all of the green on it as well.

The furniture and the umbrella look like new.  My kids actually thought we bought a new umbrella.   So if you have an umbrella that's looking dingy and dirty, try cleaning it using this method.  You will be amazed at how you can make it look brand new again.

Also, my Craigslist chair makeover was featured over at Furniture Flippin.  

Hope you will stop by to check it out.  

-Judy

Outdoor Spaces

It's getting warmer which means spending more time outdoors.  Two years ago we renovated our backyard and created an entire outdoor living space. 

It was one of the best things we have ever done.

It's a wonderful place to entertain and hang out with family and friends.

The outdoors can be treated as an entire new space to decorate.
Here is some more inspiration:

Contemporary Landscape by Sterling Landscape Architect Surrounds Landscape Architecture and Construction

Traditional Patio by Saratoga Springs Design-build Witt Construction

Contemporary Patio by Cedarburg Landscape Architect Ginkgo Leaf Studio

Traditional Landscape

Traditional Patio by Houston General Contractor Frankel Building Group

Traditional Patio by Los Angeles Architect Tim Barber LTD Architecture & Interior Design

Hope you have a great weekend!

-Judy

Growing Beautiful Hydrangeas

It's no secret that hydrangeas are my favorite flower.  We have several hydrangea bushes in our backyard and I love to cut the stems to have fresh flowers in the house all summer long.

Here is one of the hydrangea bushes by our pool.  We have several more just as full of flowers.

So many of you have emailed me questions about caring for hydrangeas, that I thought I would just answer them all in a post.  I am certainly not an expert on the subject. 

 I did a post last year with tips for growing hydrangeas...you can read that post here.  

Here are some of my other favorite links to the best care tips for growing hydrangeas:

Centsational Girl, my go to blog for anything and everything, did a great post a while ago on growing healthy hydrangeas.  Even though I thought I knew everything I needed to know about hydrangeas, I learned a few more things reading that post.

HydrangeasHydrangeas is a site devoted to the care of hydrangeas!

Southern Living also has a wonderful article on growing beautiful hydrangeas.

Once these beautiful flowers are in a vase, First Come Flowers gives great tips 

on how to care for your cut hydrangeas.

Image

Finally, for lasting beauty all year long, Sweetwater Style and Hydrangeas Hydrangeas explain

 the best way to dry your hydrangeas.

Hope this helps you grow the most beautiful hydrangeas.

-Judy

Two Area Rugs for Less than the Price of One

I love how an area rug grounds any space.  Area rugs instantly pull a seating area together.

Here is my outdoor seating area last year.  It's beautiful, but I thought an
outdoor rug would help define the area and make it feel more like a real room.
  However, outdoor rugs of this size (9x12) are expensive.

That's why when I saw this outdoor mat on QVC, I had to get it.  It happened to be the today's special value, so it was only $39!!  I'm not really a big QVC shopper, but when I was flipping through the channels I saw this and I knew it was exactly what I was looking for.

Here's another view.  The wrinkles in it have softened since I took this photo the day I opened the mat.

It's soft underfoot and dirt can be easily blown or hosed off.  It is light-weight and it folds up easily for storage during the winter.  Okay...I know, I sound like a commercial.

While I was at it, I bought one for the seating area by my pool.  The 5x7 was only $27 that day.

All the beauty and benefits of an outdoor rug, but at a fraction of the price.  

Two large rugs for under $70!  Now that's a bargain!

Can't wait to hear what you think.

-Judy